Muscle soreness, or the feeling of muscle pain, is the normal response to unaccustomed exercise or exertion. It is usually experienced by people who have overworked their muscles. Muscle soreness can be caused by several factors, including small tears in muscle fiber or connective tissues, muscle spasms, or overstretching of the muscle. Commonly experienced as a loss of strength and decreased range of motion and neuromuscular function, muscle soreness can negatively affect sports performance and the enjoyment of exercise.
Various beverages categorized as sports drinks or energy drinks (collectively sports drinks) are commonly used during exercise to quickly replace fluids and electrolytes lost by sweating and/or to supply a boost of carbohydrates to improve sports or exercise performance. Such conventional sports drinks, however, fail to relieve or alleviate muscle soreness. Reducing or preventing muscle soreness would allow individuals to undertake increased levels of activity without undo discomfort. Allowing individuals to undertake increased levels of physical activity while experiencing limited or no muscle soreness would promote activity and healthier lifestyles. Further providing ready-made food or beverage products or concentrated formulations for limiting muscle soreness would promote users to consume an adequate amount of product to realize the benefit.